Lery Dickerson, Dave Blake

The purpose of this project was to determine the effectiveness of firefighter intervention using hand-held fire extinguishers on fires in 150- and 800-cubic-foot cargo containers.

This test plan was undertaken following a fire in the main deck cargo compartment of a South African Airlines Boeing 747-244B (COMBI) on November 27, 1987. The airplane crashed into the Indian Ocean killing all occupants.

A total of 27 tests were performed; 23 in the 150-cubic-foot cargo container series, and 4 in the 800-cubic-foot cargo container series.

Three agents were tested--Halon 1211, Halon 1301, and "loaded stream" water. Only the Halon 1211 agent was partially successful in extinguishing this type of Class' A fire. Seven of the 23 fires were extinguished. The rigid cargo containers contained and controlled the test fires through oxygen starvation in 18 of 20 fire tests that were not extinguished.

W.J. Parker, R. Filipczak

A computer model was developed to calculate the heat release rate of aircraft cabin composite panels based on th panel's thermophysical, chemcial and geometeric properties. The model calculates the temperature through the panel as a function of time and uses this along with measured kinetic constants to deduce mass loss rate which is multiplied by the heat of combustion of the volatiles. The caluclated results are general agreement with the measured heat release obtained from the Ohio State University (OSU) calorimeter.

Timothy Marker

Twenty-five full scale tests were conducted in a modified 707 narrow-body fuselage as part of an aircraft cabin water spray optimization study. The purpose of the study was to test several spray configurations by varying the amount of water sprayed, the flow rates, and orientation of the nozzles, while keeping the fire conditions constant, in an attempt to minimize the quantity of water required to effectively suppress a postcrash aircraft fire and improve occupant survivability.

The original Safety Aircraft and Vehicles Equipment (SAVE) system was configured in the narrow-body cabin using 120 nozzles. Initially, three tests were conducted using 72, 48, and 24 gallons of water for 3-, 2-, and 1-minute spray durations, respectively. In the following series of tests, one-third of the SAVE system (40 nozzles) was configured in the area of the fire using 24, 16, and 8 gallons of water for 3-, 2-, and 1-minute spray durations, respectively. During the final series of tests, the spray system was configured in five separate sections or “zones” with each zone carrying eight nozzles. A thermocouple was mounted at ceiling height in each zone, allowing for the activation of a particular zone when the temperature reached a predetermined value. The flow rate of the nozzle was varied as was the amount of water available during the tests. For comparison, a test was conducted without spraying water in order to establish a “baseline.” Temperature, heat flux, smoke levels, gas concentrations, and video were continuously monitored at various locations throughout the fuselage. The optimal zoned system was more effective than the SAVE system and used only 11 percent of water.

Harvey B. Safeer

The goal of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) fire science program is to eliminate fire as a cause of fatalities in aircraft accidents. The legislative impetus for this program is Public Law 100-591, the Aviation Research Act of 1988. This Act mandates the FAA to perform the long-range research that will lead to new technologies for improving aircraft fire safety. Achieving the research goal requires both advances in fire science and the development of new electronic, chemical, and material technologies to implement safety improvements.

Harvey B. Safeer

Improved aircraft fire safety has always been an important FAA goal. Regulations in support office safety are a result of continuous research, testing, and evaluation efforts based on service experience and the introduction of new technology.